


Crossed Signals, Wrong Cards

by Sharyrazade



Series: Children of Men - Fallen PT AU [7]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 5
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Closeted Character, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Implied/Referenced Murder, Infidelity, Love Confessions, Married Characters, Married Life, Pride, Regret, Self-Esteem Issues, Sexual Confusion, Sexual Incompatibility, Trust Issues, Unhealthy Relationships, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-21 23:50:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13154679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharyrazade/pseuds/Sharyrazade
Summary: By the time of his twenty-eighth birthday, Yuuki Mishima appears to be a man on top of the world, running a multi-billion IT company with a gorgeous and accomplished wife, as well as an essential part of the Phantom Thieves' operation. However, a bit closer to home, Makoto seems to be having an early midlife crisis...





	Crossed Signals, Wrong Cards

_"Of course,"_ reported the subordinate's voice dutifully.  _"exactly as you've specified, Mr. Mishima. The Tainan buyouts are proceeding swimmingly. Whether directly or through our subsidiaries, we should have control over the lion's share of the city's IT concerns before the year is out."_

"Excellent." the president congratulated. "Keep up the good work."

Dismissing the call and gazing out over the city's skyline from the glass-windowed elevator, Yuuki Mishima gave a smug grin. _Mr. Mishima,_ it sounded damn good, and why shouldn't it? After all, had he not been put through so much crap from his peers, working his fingers and brain to their limits during his school and university years? Not to mention a struggling IT startup started during the tail end of his university career. As far as the long-suffering man was concerned, Futaba's mysterious gift of the majority shares in one of the country's most prominent IT firms (Her repeated, occasionally-rather-cross insistence of _"Don't worry about it, Nishima,"_ did rub him the wrong way initially, these concerns shortly took a backseat to the benefits he had begun to reap, both professionally and personally) was a gift from the heavens, his own karmic payback for serving as others' chewtoy for much of his life.

Of course, his work life was only half of it; even before this Phantom Thieves business, he'd knew damn well Makoto Niijima had scarcely known he'd existed. In recent years, while not to the degree of her disdain for Sakamoto's or Futaba's work, she'd compared his work for the Phan-site to that of "an infamous rat-faced public relations specialist," but either his newfound swagger, his fortune, or some combination of the two had drawn the gorgeous detective to him, even proposing she become Mrs. Mishima last year. Of course, he'd accepted. Now, just as he had then, Yuuki had brushed off the concerns expressed by his sister-in-law (who wasn't bad looking at all herself) and Sakamoto less diplomatically. Why should he be worried? He'd served his time. He'd worked his butt off to get where he was today. And as far as he was concerned, it was his right- no, his obligation to savor the benefits.

Giving an irritated growl at a text message from one of his subordinates, the president dialed his wife's number with a single touch, not happy only getting her voicemail, but far more so than with the bumbling subordinate. "Hey, babe." he began. "Matsushina fucked up- again. I'll be home late, probably around ten, eleven. Don't wait up for me."

* * *

 It was a bit flashy for Makoto's taste, true. But even in his selection of the penthouse her husband had insisted upon, the distinguished inspector still took time for her ritual concerning her best friend's visits, during which curiously enough, Haru seemed to go out of her way to avoid Yuuki.

"I know it's not exactly your favorite, but we only had green tea." said Makoto apologetically. "Sorry about that."

"No, it's really fine." replied Haru dreamily. "What did you want to talk about tonight?"

Stirring the beverage absentmindedly, the inspector's thoughts drifting to the family lives of her comrades in comparison to her own. "Nothing really." Makoto lied. "It's just...What do you think the relationship should be like with someone you call the love of your life?"

Haru's heart skipped a couple of beats. "W-what do you mean?"

Makoto sighed tiredly, not one of simple work-related fatigue, but the accumulated exhaustion of many years. "It's just- I don't have that kind of information for everyone I meet true, but- it's just-"

Makoto began to count off with her fingers with her examples. "Sae calls Mitsuru her 'other half,' Yusuke sees Hifumi as a literal work of art- a masterpiece and she calls him her 'champion,' Futaba and Ryuji may as well have one brain between them, they're so in sync, and-"

Somewhat less than so than the preceding expression of the same sentiment, Makoto sighed once again, opening that wound almost as old as her relationship with both halves of the couple. "-he and Ann are so close, she calls their bond supernatural." she finished heavily. "I don't feel that about Yuuki. Or anything of the sort. You have no idea how much energy I've spent trying to force myself to do so. I care about him, sure; but like I would a friend or a little brother."

"So you're saying you feel like you can't be honest with him?" speculated Haru.

"Yes, exactly!"

 

Staring blankly into her own tea, for the first time in quite some time, Makoto was able to be completely honest with herself. "I told myself I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man for almost a year and a half now, but- but I just saw all of you, Sae, Yusuke, Hifumi, him and Ann, Ryuji- even Futaba-chan."

Choking back a tear or two, Makoto continued. "I-I-I was afraid." she confessed at last, her voice still shaky. "I was afraid that I was going to spend the rest of my life alone. It was even worse watching those two, Hifumi and Ann, becoming mothers as well."

"Mako-chan..." Haru interrupted contritely, instinctively reaching out for her before deciding against it.

"I guess I really am just a fool, like Ryuji and Futaba said. A self-important fool. I ruined a good man's life- made him think I was his soulmate, simply for the sake of my own validation. I never realized just how awful I'd become-"

 

Shooting up from her seat, Haru was not happy with this train of thought. "That's enough!" she insisted, more forcefully than she'd intended. "That's not true! So what if you made a decision you regret from a place of fear? Even before Makoto Niijima, the overachiever at the top of every class she's ever been in or Makoto Niijima, the world-famous police detective, you're Makoto Niijima, the kindest, wisest, prettiest woman I know! You're...perfect....you always have been."

Gazing at the other woman with an expression of baleful appreciation, Makoto still seemed on the verge of tears, whether of joy or sadness. "Thank you, Haru. But that's not true-"

"Well, it is to me!"

Closing the distance between them and facing Makoto, Haru placed a comforting arm on her shoulder. This rather unusual position did not go unnoticed by Makoto.

"Y-you look like you want to say something, Haru."

* * *

_The silver-tressed amazon nodded politely as she processed the tale of unrequited desire from the woman with whom she'd just lain. "I see." conceded Sae. "Most of it, if not everything, makes sense now. Even the 'pincushion' shaped like my brother-in-law."  
_

_"I've told you this in confidence." reminded Haru pleadingly. "I beg of you, not to tell Mako-ch- your sister. I've only ever told Akira. I would have asked Ann-chan as well, but she's...not-as-great at keeping secrets."_

_"I'd never dream of it. Besides, I've no right to tell her anyway. That belongs to you and you alone."_

_The younger woman sighed in resignation, casting a downcast glance at her own pessimistic worries. "Suppose I do confess my feelings. What if she says no- what if she tells me how disgusting she thinks I am?! What then?!"_

_"First of all," Sae began gently, but with a hint of her trademark edge. "you and I know Makoto well enough to know she would never say something like that to anyone, let alone you. Besides, life is far too fleeting to simply sit around wondering about 'what ifs,' right? Even if she does turn you down, you would at least know, correct?"  
_

_"Yes, but-"_

_Sae smiled gently at the younger woman. "Tell you what. If things don't work out with Makoto, I'll introduce you- properly this time, to Mitsuru. I'm sure she'll love you."_

_Haru's expression turned slightly scandalized, recalling the incident in question. "Aren't you and Kijiro-san...together?"_

_"Well, seeing as we're the type of person to attract so many, shall we say, admirers, men and women alike, we have a little...arrangement, so to speak."_

_Somehow smiling in spite of herself, the much of the tension from Haru's expression and spirit had dissipated, Sae beginning to stroke her fluffy locks affectionately. "You've been through so much- you deserve some happiness in your life. If you only knew just how happy you make Makoto, you wouldn't have anything to worry about."_

_"As kind as you are gorgeous." complimented Haru. "Thank you, Sae-san."_

_"Besides, even Sakamoto could see that marriage was and is a disaster waiting to happen. I'd made my concerns known, but- you know my sister."  
_

* * *

 In spite of the countless hours she'd spent agonizing over this very moment, the sorrow in Makoto's eyes spurred her into action. Honestly, when their lips finally did meet, it was almost as surprising to Haru as it was to Makoto, who, while surprised, did not exactly recoil or push her away either.

"Did you enjoy that, Makoto?" asked Haru gently.

She _wanted_ to hesitate, she _wanted_ to say no, but to deny it any longer would be dishonest on so many levels. "Y-yes. Yes, I did, Haru."

"You said you were worried that you'd never have someone you could be completely honest with- someone you could spend your life with."

"W-what?"

Haru grinned slyly. "You didn't have to go looking for her. She's been right next to you this whole time."

 _She?!_ , Makoto thought frantically. Still, this demystified more than a few of Haru's mysterious behavioral habits she'd developed in recent years, she had to admit. But she had no real evidence Haru was like that, so to speak. Not that she had any problem with that! Makoto just did not, at least until very, very recently, think of herself as a homosexual or anything of the sort. And what of Yuuki?

Nonetheless, there was something else which could not be denied; on the rare occasions when she would show Yuuki any real physical affection (it generally was the other way around), there was simply no heat between them, like a single spark attempting to burn an utterly waterlogged forest. Once Haru kissed her again, this time with considerably more force, any doubts Makoto may have had were evaporated by said heat shared between them; with Yuuki, a single spark would have been an accomplishment. With Haru on the other hand, it was an incipient, all-consuming inferno, only fueled by years of mutual drought.

As Makoto returned the kiss, allowing her hands to explore the other woman's body in an affectionate, not-at-all-friendly way, a pressing thought momentarily interrupted them.

"Wait..." began Makoto, briefly pulling herself away from Haru. "If this is going where I think it's going, and we're both women...how would that even-"

With a mischievous smirk, Haru silenced her love with a single finger. "Why don't you let me be the overachiever tonight, Mako-chan? There's still so much to teach you, after all."

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I wasn't that thrilled with how I'd conceived the Haru>Makoto>Joker unrequited love triangle initially, but the more I wrote it, the more it grew on me. Makoto's confession scene and Haru's confession actually synced up pretty well with the tracks Regret and Sweet from the OST too.


End file.
